THE findings of a Transparency International Bangladesh study are worrying in that the top 5 per cent of the contractors working with the top 10 ministries could secure 61.31 per cent of the total contract value given out on electronic procurement system in 12 years since 2012. The bottom 10 per cent of the contractors could, however, secure less than 1 per cent of the total contract value of all ministries. The government has spent Tk 5,969.21 billion through electronic procurement since its introduction in 2011 and the top 10 ministries account for 91.72 per cent of, or Tk 5,409.5 billion. The study says that across most ministries, the top 5 per cent of bidders have increased their market share in a decade. The housing and public works ministry has registered the largest increase in concentration, with 15 per cent, followed by both the Roads and Highways Division and the education ministry, with a 10 per cent increase. What appears further worrying is that the study suggests a tripartite collusion of the bureaucracy, contractors and political forces at play which has institutionalised their control of the public procurement market.
The study says that influential groups of contractors have exploited the legal loopholes to get engaged in unethical practice, which has obstructed fair competition. The Transparency International Bangladesh executive director has said that public procurement is one of the most corruption-prone sectors the world over, but an unchecked syndication has held the sector hostage in Bangladesh. Another study in 2018 also found corruption and irregularities in institutional procurement聽聽 caused a waste of up to 27 per cent of the total procurement budget. When the electronic government procurement, or e-GP, system was introduced, it was expected that it would reduce losses, ensure an open competition, minimise corruption in public procurement and maximise benefits of public spending. But, even after the digitalised procurement has been introduced, corruption has not been controlled and fair competition has not been ensured. The tripartite collusion has, rather, monopolised the electronic procurement system, institutionalising the control of the public procurement. The study says that leading contractors have consistently secured contracts by forming joint ventures, strengthening their influence on the market beyond what is publicly recorded, restricting fair competition and adding to their dominance besides monopolising the market. The proposition also points to failures of the Central Procurement Technical Unit, founded within the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division in April 2002, which was transformed into the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority in June 2023.
A system overhaul, substantiated by changes in legislation, if required, is needed to break the monopoly that has for long gripped public procurement. The Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority should also be strengthened to make this happen.
